high standard of environmental management plan from players large and small, the utility provided a budget and support package to outline a minimum acceptable standard of environmental protection measures and control procedures. The aim was to help contractors reduce the environmental risks of all their day-to-day operations, thereby reducing the potential for environmental noncompliance from works being completed by contractors on the utility’s behalf.
The support package provided a Guide to preparing an environmental management plan and a corresponding electronic Template into which the contractors could start writing their plan. The Guide set out a straightforward project planning process to identify environmental risks and the management strategies to reduce them. This process helped the contractors to:
prepare detailed plans for using best environmental management practices
comply with the conditions of project approvals
comply with environmental legislation and regulations
minimize environmental risk
avoid and minimize adverse environmental effects of works
monitor activities and effects
take action to mitigate or remedy any adverse environmental effects; and, if necessary, to change the way they do things to prevent any recurrence
continually improve their environmental performance.
Also in the support package was an interactive toolbox of:
a leaflet summarizing the package
a background document explaining the environmental management plan framework and the reasons for setting it up, as well as the objectives and scope of a plan
an electronic plan template with all the headings set out and some helpful information already provided
printed workbooks containing background information and examples to help contractors fill out the template for their organization
a set of environmental control procedures (also known as environmental management procedures or standard work practices or operating procedures) and other resources prepared for the contractors to use and adapt for their plans and their site management and monitoring processes
a self-paced interactive online learning program, supported by classroom-based training
ongoing support from staff of the utility.
The first plans were uniformly excellent – a result that could not have been achieved cost-effectively in any other way.
Regular site inspections then made sure the contractors were supported in following and, if necessary, reviewing their plans.
An interesting finding from the process was that having such plans was invaluable when these contractors were bidding for other work, especially council or government projects: it gave them good non-price attributes and a great track record.
Benefits all round
Other benefits of contractors developing and implementing their environmental management plans included providing:
for both the utility and the contractor:
a clear understanding of how the utility and the contractors would act as one team to comply with legal requirements, avoid environmental impacts and achieve best practice in environmental performance
an accepted agreement on environmental best practice before works start;
for contractors:
reduced risk of budget overruns due to unanticipated environmental problems
a head start in terms of non-price attributes when competing for other contracts;
for the utility:
confidence that its contractors had planned and identified how to complete works in an environmentally responsible manner
a tool to more accurately measure the time and effort taken to address environmental issues and practices; and
for other stakeholders and the wider community:
confidence that the utility’s works were not only timely and cost-effective, but also planned and carried out in accordance with sound environmental practice.
All in all, the environmental management plan program resulted in a step-change in industry capacity and capability. It provided contractors large and small with new and enhanced skills that offer both business and environmental benefits that will continue to grow over time.
Michael Lindgreen was the project sponsor. Now with Andrew Stewart Limited, he says that ‘to achieve the corporate goal of a consistent level of environmental best practice we recognised that we needed to do things differently. We wanted to challenge the industry norm of simply prescribing our environmental requirements and standards
high standard of environmental management plan from players large and small, the utility provided a budget and support package to outline a minimum acceptable standard of environmental protection measures and control procedures. The aim was to help contractors reduce the environmental risks of all their day-to-day operations, thereby reducing the potential for environmental noncompliance from works being completed by contractors on the utility’s behalf.
